APPLYING BIOSOLIDS: ISSUES FOR VIRGINIA AGRICULTURE

Table 7. L. C. Davis farm, New Kent County: Partial Budgeting Results

Reduced returns

None

Total savings (loss)

The five-year average per acre yields for this field were 85 bushels of corn for the Bojac soil and 160
bushels of corn for the Pamunkey soil. Davis reported per acre field averages of 80 bushels for wheat,
85 bushels for barley, and 35 bushels for soybeans. The 1997 corn crop averaged 61 bushels per acre
from the Bojac soil and 117 bushels per acre from the Pamunkey soil. Yields were severely depressed in
1997 due to summer drought: 4 inches of rain compared to 14 inches to 17 inches normally. No measurable
differences were found in yields between this field and fields that did not receive biosolids. The field with
biosolids looked better early in the summer compared to fields that received commercial fertilizer, but the
prolonged drought eventually reduced yields in all fields.

J. R. Smith Farm, Louisa County

The J. R. Smith farm is a cow/calf operation in Louisa County. Smith has 40 cows and 1 bull on 65 acres,
approximately 1 animal unit per 1.6 acres. His grazing management consists mostly of non-rotational,
open access grazing. Smith had been managing the operation so that cows calve in the spring, but at the
time of the study, he was in the process of switching to a fall calving schedule.

Approximately 6.9 tons of non-lime stabilized, dry biosolids were applied to a 15.5 acre fescue and ladino
clover pasture in the spring 1997. The pasture contains Cecil and Appling soils with a pH of 6.3 and had
never received biosolids. Normally, Smith applies 60 pounds N per acre, 30 pounds P per acre, and 90
pounds K per acre to this field every spring. The nutrient value for the first year and fertilizer application
cost savings from the applied biosolids were estimated at almost $41 per acre. Most of this value was
from credit for the N, P, and K content of the biosolids (Table 8).

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